Which Notre Dame class of 2026 signees are enrolling early?

Notre Dame was a late adapter to early enrollment, first permitting it in 2006 at then-head coach Charlie Weis’ behest. The Irish added three mid-year enrollees that season.

It was groundbreaking then. Now? Spring semester freshmen arrivals routinely reach double-digits, and over the past several years, they have comprised of around half the class. Fourteen of the Irish’s 27 signees in the 2021 class arrived in January. In the following four classes, the Irish signed 12, 12, 15 and 13 early enrollees, respectively.

The 15 the Irish got on campus early in the 2024 class was a school record, until Notre Dame shattered that record in the 2026 cycle. It’s Blue & Gold’s understanding that the NCAA new roster limit changes make it easier for schools to get a higher number of recruits to enroll early.

Twenty-four of Notre Dame’s 27 signees in the 2026 cycle will get to South Bend to begin their collegiate careers as student-athletes in January. Who are they?

The better question to ask is which are not enrolling early.

Notre Dame early enrollees

• Three-star WR Dylan Faison, Boca Raton (Fla.) Saint Andrew’s School
• Three-star QB Noah Grubbs, Lake Mary (Fla.) High
• Four-star LB Thomas Davis Jr., Matthews (N.C.) Weddington
• Four-star CB Chaston Smith, Chattanooga (Tenn.) McCallie School
• Three-star OL Sullivan Garvin, Allegan (Mich.) High
• Four-star OL Tyler Merrill, Mechanicsburg (Pa.) Cumberland Valley
• Four-star EDGE Ebenezer Ewetade, Garner (N.C.) South Garner
• Five-star EDGE Rodney Dunham Jr., Charlotte (N.C.) Myers Park
• Four-star WR Bubba Frazier, Savannah (Ga.) Benedictine Military School
• Four-star DB Ayden Pouncey, Winter Park (Fla.) High
• Three-star LB Kobe Clapper, Cincinnati St. Xavier
• Four-star RB Javian Osborne, Forney (Texas) High
• Three-star DL Tiki Hola, Bastrop (Texas) High
• Four-star RB Jonaz Walton, Carrollton (Ga.) Central
• Four-star OT Grayson McKeogh, Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College
• Five-star CB Khary Adams, Towson (Md.) Loyola Blakefield
• Five-star S Joey O’Brien, Wyndmoor (Pa.) La Salle College
• Three-star TE Preston Fryzel, Toledo (Ohio) Central Catholic
• Three-star OT Charlie Thom, Avon (Conn.) Old Farms
• Four-star WR Kaydon Finley, Aledo (Texas) High
• Three-star WR Devin Fitzgerald, Phoenix Brophy College Prep
• Four-star WR Brayden Robinson, Red Oak (Texas) High
• Three-star S Nick Reddish, Charlotte (N.C.) Independence

June enrollees

• Four-star OL Ben Nichols, Davison (Mich.) High
• Five-star TE Ian Premer, Great Bend (Kan.) High
• Four-star OL Gregory Patrick, Portage (Mich.) Northern

If Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb quarterback Teddy Jarrard follows through with reclassifying — which Blue & Gold reported on Thursday is very possible — then he will be a summer enrollee as well.

One change from recent years is that NCAA rules now prohibit signees from participating in postseason practices. Last year, a few Irish class of 2025 signees were with the team to prepare for the Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl and national championship.